ORI
Research carried out at the Oxford Robotics Institute will be featured at the AI expo.

Image credit: Oxford Robotics Institute

Spring expo to showcase Oxford's AI research

The University of Oxford will showcase its artificial intelligence (AI) research with a one-day expo on 27 March 2018.

The event, 'Artificial Intelligence @ Oxford', brings together Oxford's leading experts in AI and machine learning from across academic disciplines, giving attendees the opportunity to hear about their work and visions of the future.

Held at Worcester College's new Sultan Nazrin Shah Conference Centre, the expo will include briefings by the experts, panel Q&A sessions, technology and research demonstrations, and opportunities to talk one-to-one with the academics at the heart of the AI revolution.

Topics to be covered on the day include robotics, driverless cars, medicine and healthcare, scientific discovery, employment, finance, privacy and ethical issues.

The University of Oxford is one of the world's leading centres for AI research and has witnessed a sharp rise in interest in the area from industry, business and government, as well as media and the public.

Professor Mike Wooldridge, Head of the Department of Computer Science at Oxford and a leading expert on cooperating AI systems, said: 'Although it is important not to get too carried away with the AI hype, the truth is that AI and machine learning have seen impressive advances over the past decade. That doesn't mean we will see robot butlers anytime soon, or that conscious machines are on the horizon. But AI and machine learning techniques are proving themselves in a huge range of new application areas, and this is genuine cause for excitement.

'This event will debunk the myths about AI and show the reality of AI today: what is possible and where the technology is going.'

Professor Steve Roberts of Oxford's Department of Engineering Science, an expert in machine learning and Director of the Oxford-Man Institute, added: 'We are in the midst of an information revolution, where advances in science and technology, as well as the day-to-day operation of successful organisations and businesses, are increasingly reliant on the analyses of data. The Oxford AI and machine learning community is rich in the breadth of its talent across all domains: there has not been a better time to lay the foundations for large-scale growth in this area.'

Provisionally announced speakers for the event include Professor Paul Newman, Director of the Oxford Robotics Institute and co-founder of the driverless car company Oxbotica, Professor Mike Osborne, a leading contributor to the discussion around AI and employment, and Professor Mihaela van der Schaar, an expert on the use of AI in medicine and healthcare.